Events

Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		60%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Shame about the traffic in the last 2-3 miles. Cuople of bits with with very narrow/ almost non-existant paths forces you onto the road.
Date of review: February 10, 2006

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		60%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: shame about the traffic in the closing 2-3 miles
In full: nice and local for me and good in my racing calender, so one I will do annually.
Date of review: January 2, 2006

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		60%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: start a little chaotic, long walk from car park/ registration to start line
In full: good potential for personal best. flat fast course with a slight incline at the end
Date of review: May 29, 2005

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Very impressive, big field but well organised.
Date of review: April 8, 2005

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Race with a "big event" feel, great support, pleasant course only slightly spoilt by traffic over last few miles and unclear start-line.
In full: The brass band and closed roads at the start give the beginning of this race a great feel. Excellent crowd support and marshalling. A favorite half, good pb potential. Ok so you have to pay for a t-shirt but this is primarily a charity fund-raising event. I'll be back for sure.
Date of review: March 22, 2005

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		60%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Well organised fast race in ideal conditions
In full: Took 6 minutes off of PB so well chuffed. Good support from Marshalls and crowd around route. Only complaint, where was the start line?
Date of review: March 16, 2005

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		40%

In short: Grossly expensive and bad value for money. Some aspects of this race are stuck in a time-warp. The toilet facilities are hopelessly inadequate. The drink stations are poorly manned and not big enough to cater for the number of runners using them.
In full: Brentwood Rotary have only recently got aSEAA permit for this race. This forced them to improve the organisation of the run, and to provide extra facilities. Considering that they are charging £9 (affiliated) to enter this race (and that does not include a t-shirt, which is £9 EXTRA), you would think they would splash out on better facilities. Everything about this race looks like it was done on the cheap - poor toilet facilities, drink stations were badly run - in some cases you had to leave the race route in order to get water - it was not handed to you like in 'proper' races. I feel that the revenue extracted from the runners was the overriding factor here, this is a very expensive race (compared to other half-marathons), and is extremely bad value for money.
That said, I cannot fault the organisation and enthusiasm of the many marshalls, who contributed to an enjoyable day for me and over 100 of my fellow club runners. We do resent the 'rip-off' nature of the run, and this may encourage us to do other runs next year, such as the Grizzly in Devon (£11 entry gets you a medal, goody bag and a t-shirt). Professional organisation, too!!
Date of review: March 16, 2005

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Well organised, pleasant route including villages with duck ponds
In full: You can't beat a brass band to make an occasion of an event. A good and challenging course with enough variety to keep the interest going while the legs were struggling.
A baggage storage place would have been useful and the start could have been better. The marshalls and the overall friendly atmosphere were a big plus.
Date of review: March 15, 2005

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Well organized enjoyable race
In full: My first half-marathon was at Brentwood in 2004 and this year had a P.B.8 minutes faster. Idea event for first time half marathon runners.
Date of review: March 15, 2005

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		60%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: My local, so I'm biased!
In full: Unexpected start - where was the line? - but well marshalled, plenty of water stations, a downhill start to loosen you up and a steady uphill third of a mile to challenge that finishing sprint!
Date of review: March 15, 2005

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